


To Infinity and Beyond

by artemis822



Category: Doctor Who (2005), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because of Reasons, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, I Blame Tumblr, Pete's World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-06-13 02:46:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15354519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis822/pseuds/artemis822
Summary: Rose and the Metacrisis Doctor team up with the Avengers.God help us all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Blame Nimbus Llewellyn. After reading his "Child of the Storm" series multiple times, I wondered what an actual team up with the Doctor and Rose for the Avengers would be like. And I needed to see Rose bitch slap Thunderbutt Ross.
> 
> I also apologize if people seem out of character.
> 
> I'm American, please feel free to Brit-pick me.
> 
> Unbetaed.

**Ch 1 - Strange Tidings**

The possible invasion of Earth by hostile alien forces was not a new circumstance for Rose Tyler.

Though, having them crossing over via a rip in space-time as a portal was a new variable.

With the disbandment of the Torchwood of her new world, the defense of Earth fell to a ragtag bunch of misfits that included the Doctor and herself. The destruction of the last of the Cybermen had temporarily heralded a time of peace and quiet for the two travelers.

It was just their luck to visit New York during an alien incursion. After visiting Barcelona (the city, not the planet), the Big Apple had been in Rose’s list of places to go, especially after visiting New New York on New Earth. America had not had as much of an inclination towards the zeppelins as Great Britain had, and the lack of them was somewhat jarring.

The Doctor (and he was well and truly the Doctor given their rehashed arguments that he had pulled her previous statements from memory and shot them down) and her ended up not near the epicenter, but on the peripheral trying to herd people to safety.

Through contrived coincidence, he’d managed to grab a suit with an older version of his sonic screwdrivers. He occasionally utilized it against the debris of damaged buildings. Rose had been surprised he’d actually created a setting to resonate concrete and other materials, pulverizing the debris into dust before it could harm anyone.

Another setting debilitated the Chitauri, the aliens responsible for the invasion. Times like this, Rose missed her really big gun. All she had was a discarded alien weapon for defense, which she used for grazing wounds.

Everything considered, most of her bumps and bruises were from when the Doctor tackled her out of the way of a flying hammer. He had mumbled something about "bloody Asgardians".

As soon as they had gotten the all-clear from NYPD, the Doctor and Rose slipped away, unwilling to deal with the media and SHIELD's eyewitness interview.

***

By mutual decision, they decided to end their holiday early.

They returned to endure Jackie's worried fussing, debriefing Pete Tyler, former head of Torchwood ended their visit, and they returned home; dirty, dusty and coming off of their respective adrenaline high. The drive from London to Cardiff lulled them, and they were negotiating who had would be getting first shower privileges.

All their plans went out the window when they opened their door and found a strange man sitting on their couch. Their growing TARDIS plant, resting in the Tony-decorated pot plant, sat in front of him on their coffee table.

Rose felt the Doctor go still next to her.

"What are you doing here? " he said softly, a threatening undercurrent in his voice.

"A great darkness approaches, Wanderer," the man said.

Rose looked at the Doctor in perplexed fear. "What darkness? The Daleks? We stopped them, didn't we? Stopped the stars from going out. "

"My dear, the reality bomb was a stopgap to what is coming. Davos was insane, but nothing compared to what’s coming. The Mad Titan is free of the Howling."

Rose recognized the Doctor's more colorful curses, despite them being in his native language. The volume and length of time that he went on for gave her a good idea of what kind of threat they were facing. "The TARDIS won't be ready in time, will it?" she asked.

The Doctor ran his fingers roughly through his hair, pacing beside her. "No. Even with Donna's contribution, it wouldn't. I would be hesitant to face him with the full force of the Time Lords at my back. The Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, all are left in the dust in the face of Thanos. He literally courts Death. " He paused, a look of defeat on his face. "I'm not a soldier anymore, I'm not prepared to fight a war again."

"No one is asking you to. Lend you counsel, your wisdom. If necessary, to step in and assist. But this a battle of brawn more so than brain. You will be approached for aid. The resources provided may benefit you. Many that come your way will require a unique approach, people that were unmade and put back together wrong. Your name must become your profession for them. The damage done was...vast. And deliberate. The world needs your help, Doctor."

The Doctor took Rose's hand. "We'll be ready." He turned his head toward her. "Won't we?"

Rose faced him. "Allons-y, Doctor." When she turned back the man was gone. "Where'd he go? Who was he? How did he get past your security?"

The Doctor sighed, a slightly amused smile on his face. "That, Rose Tyler, was the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Strange. He is probably the closest thing to a Time Lord that humanity in this reality will get, aside from myself. The forces that he has access to could rival Bad Wolf, and the ones that he keeps at bay could match the destruction of the Time War. If I had to guess, I would say that that's what released Thanos from his prison."

"So what do we do now?" Rose asked.

"Now, we wait for our call to battle."


	2. Fury Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and the Doctor get another visitor.
> 
> And a proposition...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter.
> 
> Unbetaed. 
> 
> Feel free to Brit-pick me.

###  **Ch 2 - Fury Road**

Their next surprise visit came at Rose's parents' house a week later. Torchwood no longer officially existed in any real capacity, but cells existed in a few countries, having united against the Cybermen threat. Pete Tyler remained in charge, acting as Director by consensus and the Tyler house was the main hub for information.  

Rose had received a call from her father, requesting a meeting with her and the Doctor about some new information that fell into his lap. He had been hesitant to elaborate on the phone, but was emphatic about the importance of them meeting at his house.  

Their arrival was met with Jackie’s usual fussing about the dangerous of their jobs as they made their way to Pete's office. They’d grown used to ignoring her. 

Rose's knock to announce them left no hint of a surprise when they entered. Pete was in his chair behind the desk, but opposite of him one of the seats was already occupied. A bald black man wearing an eyepatch sat with his back to them. As they approached the desk, he turned towards them and stood. 

Pete stood as well, coming around his desk to make introductions. "Rose, Doctor,  may I present Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. Mr. Fury, this is my daughter Rose and second in command,  and Doctor James Noble, our leading science and technology expert." 

Fury raised an eyebrow. "Doctor, huh? Doctor of what?" he asked as they all took seats.  

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly at the question. "Oh, bit of this, bit of that. It'd be easier to list what I'm not a Doctor of, actually." He attempted to laugh off the brag. 

Fury made a face as if he was impressed.  "I've read some of the articles you've gotten published. You've caused quite a stir in the science community with your theories about space and space travel." 

The Doctor tugged on his ear. "Welllll, human scientific knowledge of quantum mechanics is limited at the moment. And theory implies that what I postulated can’t be proven." 

Fury made a humming sound. "And you, Ms. Tyler, have quite the reputation in the Intelligence community with some of your work defeating the Cybermen, not that many outside the World Council's federal agencies know about that particular threat to humanity." 

Rose coloured slightly, ducking her head. "I just did what was needed," she said, waving off the praise. 

"The two of you together are quite the team. I've come to admire your work in the field. I especially was impressed with your accomplishments in New York." 

Rose and the Doctor stilled at his words.   

"What I'd like to know is how the two of seem to know so much for a couple of people who didn't exist until a couple years ago." 

The Doctor tensed, edging towards his sonic screwdriver in his pocket, mentally assessing possible settings for memory loss. 

Pete stood abruptly. "Now see here, Fury, if you've come into my house just threaten my family-" 

Fury held up his hands defensively.  "I'm not threatening anybody. I was curious, and given everything that's just come to light in the last week, the less mysteries I have to deal with right now, the better." He paused, crossing his arms.  "I came here to get a feel for you and to make a proposal. I want to absorb what's left of Torchwood into SHIELD. You already got the credentials when comes to dealing with aliens, which I'm in short supply of at the moment." He shrugged at the shortcoming. 

Rose and the Doctor shared a look, then turned to Pete, who looked pensive. "What do you two think?" 

Rose crossed her arms. "Are we talking full conversion? Every Torchwood agent would be a SHIELD agent? Because not all members are field agents. In fact, most of them were average people who joined because they lost someone to the Cybermen invasion." 

"Not every SHIELD agent is field certified, either. And a good portion of those in command of the first incarnation as the SSR were spurred by the loss of Captain America. Loss is a powerful motivator," Fury replied.  

"What exactly is it you want from Rose and I? Your focus seemed to be on the two of us, despite the extension of the offer to the rest of Torchwood," the Doctor inquired. 

Fury tilted his head as the corner of his lip quirked. "You're right. The original offer was for the two of you, but you seemed a little too loyal to leave, and loyalty in the right place is an advantage. And the only thing the absorption means is that you'll have more resources for the same job. You'll have the same autonomy with more backing. Everyone still answers to Mr. Tyler, and he and I will work out logistics. Except for you two, who would be more liaisons. I'm going to have you team up with a few agents and consultants for an alien think tank if you don't mind, because I want to pick your brain." 

Rose inclined her head. "Doctor, do you have anything?" 

He sniffed loudly, scrunching his nose. "How is it you seemed to get through our system to question our identities? Considering I overhauled the cyber security myself, and no one could have broken through,  short of myself or a very advanced artificial intelligence." 

Fury shoved his hands in his jacket pocket. "Your security makes mine look like a chump. Considering some of the people on my payroll who are certified geniuses, that's saying something. As to how we figured out that your activities only go back a couple years and Ms. Tyler's a couple prior to that, is that we had had your father under surveillance before due to his proximity to several high value politicians and world leaders. Despite your efficiently placed forgeries, digital or otherwise, you didn't exist before that. Whoever did Agent Tyler's identity was good enough for us to investigate for recruitment." 

The Doctor looked at Rose, with raised eyebrows. She mouthed "Mickey" to him in answer to his nonverbal query. She turned to Pete. "I'm game. Dad?" 

Pete exchanged a look with the Doctor, whose nod was grave and solemn. He turned to Fury and extended his hand. "Well, it seems we have an accord." 

Nick Fury stood and grasped Pete Tyler's hand and shook it. "Welcome to SHIELD."

 


	3. Stark Landscapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor meets Tony Stark. 
> 
> I'm not sure the world is ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetaed. Mistakes are my own. Feel free to Brit-pick me.
> 
> I just hope I did everyone justice.

###  **Ch 3 - Stark Landscapes**

Despite whizzing about time and space, from one corner of the universe to another, the Doctor wasn't a fan of flying. 

Rose didn't complain about the abuse her fingers took from his grasp, only hoping she'd get the circulation back sometime soon. 

Their return to New York held a different urgency than their flight a few months ago had, post-Chitauri invasion. Fury had held off complete integration with Torchwood a few months, getting the organization stabilized globally in their local areas with Rose and "James" in charge of operations. Jackie had opposed her whole family flying to the ends of the Earth, so Pete had remained within Europe. 

The "Mandarin" events spurred Fury to finally bring Rose and the Doctor into the fold. They were informed that because a couple "consultants" had refused to go to their main operations center in D.C., they would be gathering in New York at the building formerly known as Stark Tower. 

Being strapped into a seat on a plane was something that Rose had enough familiarity with to not be nervous. However, the aircraft she was on was the most high tech she had ever seen on Earth within a time frame that correlated closely with her time period. That being said, she was impressed, not just with the plane or Quinjet, but also with the skills of the pilot. It was a smooth landing on top of the building, and given some of the materializations that she had experienced with the Doctor, she felt that she was a good judge of quality.  

Agent Barton of SHIELD opened the rear ramp and powered down the jet. The Doctor was already halfway down the ramp by the time Rose was unstrapped, much to her annoyance. Barton followed her silently out of the plane as she attempted to catch up with the Doctor.   

The look on his face was one she had seen on many alien planets, the childlike wonder of discovery and indomitable curiosity that often landed them in trouble. With every passing laboratory, she was forced to wrangle him away from the conversations that he'd tried to strike up with the scientists within as they followed Barton through the building.  

However, she was thrown by the disembodied voice that greeted them in the elevator.  

"Good afternoon, Agent Barton, Ms. Tyler, Dr. Noble. Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts are waiting for you in the common room." 

"Thanks, JARVIS," Barton responded.  

The Doctor perked up at this new curiosity and looked around for the source. "Hello, and who might you be?" 

"I am JARVIS, an Artificial Intelligence created by Mr. Stark, and serve as his personal management system. Should you require further assistance or have an inquiry, you may direct them to me by addressing me by name." 

"Oh, that is brilliant, absolutely brilliant! I've never gotten to interact with a fully aware AI," the Doctor gushed. 

Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "What about the...you-know-what?" she asked. 

The Doctor tipped his head. "Well, there's a vast difference between a sentient AI and an eleventh dimensional being, which is what she is."

Rose looked thoughtful. "Is that why there's no interface besides the monitor?" 

The Doctor looked at her proudly. "Exactly. Trying to convert her for communication in a single dimension would weaken her, probably kill her. The monitor was the best compromise outside of a telepathic connection, which generally speaking, people have a difficult time accepting. You balked at the translator alone." 

Rose snorted. "I remember." 

"Hello, JARVIS, is it? Yes, …" the Doctor struck up a conversation with the AI as they exited the elevator, questioning him about his systems and specifications, memory and capabilities. It was then that he abruptly stopped walking. "Ah. You're the one that broke through my system. Oh, that's brilliant." 

"Mr. Stark examined your system, at the behest of Directory Fury, due to its unusual configuration and durability. We were not able to completely breach your system. However, we were able, after much arduous work, to get through only a couple of the layers of firewalls and access surface information pertaining to your identities. Further information wasn't accessible," JARVIS concluded. 

By the end of JARVIS's explanation, they had completed their path to the common room for the Tower. 

In the middle stood Pepper Potts and Tony Stark, shoulder to shoulder in solidarity at whatever trick they thought SHIELD was trying to pull with any sort of alien think tank. The only reason that Tony had agreed was because of the hope it would help curb his nightmares. 

"How's it hanging, Legolas?" Tony greeted Barton. 

"Bite me, Stark." 

"I'll pass. That's probably more Romanoff's speed anyway. So.” Tony clapped his hands rubbing them together. “You guys are the alien experts, huh? At least, according to Fury. Of course, that could mean that you've watched Independence Day a hundred times." 

Pepper stepped forward to greet them. "What Mr. Stark means to say, is that we look forward to working with you in the coming days." 

Rose smiled, shaking Potts’s hand in return.  "I have no doubt the experience will be...interesting." Internally, she noted that she and Ms. Potts might get along well, being well experienced in wrangling geniuses. "I was wondering if Dr. Banner was here?" 

Pepper and Tony exchanged a look. "He is not in house at the moment, and likely won't be back for a few days," Pepper answered. 

Rose resisted the impulse to narrow her eyes. 

Tony came over to the Doctor, throwing an arm around his shoulder and turned to the door, guiding him out to the hall. 

Rose followed, not so much worried that Stark would do something to the Doctor, but if left unsupervised, they would find trouble.   

***  

They were given a tour of a couple of the labs, and Rose had to stop the Doctor from tinkering with some of the prototypes being built. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was science going to waste. His exclamations of "Look at this, Rose!" and "I haven't seen one of these in years!" and "Well, that's rubbish,  it'll never work like this!" were hard to curtail as well as his rambling about the various designs hung up around the room. Stark was no help, in fact he quickly figured out that any given smart question would set the Doctor off anew. Rose could practically see the jaws of the trap inching closed. 

Lunch was a presentation, a glorious banquet the likes of which Rose hadn't seen since she first came over to this world. Ms. Potts's demure and deft manners at such a spread involuntarily raised her hackles a bit. You can take the girl out of the Estate....  Rose wasn’t about to let it phase her. She was still slightly hesitant about being a part of an anti-alien think tank, but she knew as well the Doctor that not everyone that visited was peaceful. At this point, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn't have to wait long.  

"So," Tony clapped and rubbed his hands together, "you guys are alien experts. How come? How do you know so much? What's Torchwood? Why don't you guys exist before a couple years ago? What's the 'you-know-what' that you were talking about earlier that's supposedly an eleventh dimensional being? Which FYI, no such thing, probably because I haven't invented it yet." 

Rose was starting feel some déjà vu, reminiscent of her brief acquaintance with van Statten in Nevada. She forced herself to relax the grip she had on the steak knife in her hand. 

Tony's eyes missed nothing, including her visible tension and the Doctor's silence. 

"Look, I trust Fury about as far as I can throw him without my suit, and a spy is a spy is a spy. But even he knows when he's out of his depth, and I sure as shit do, too. From what little I could glean from your personal systems, which I barely make a dent in and what I got from the mysterious Torchwood systems, which took me almost twice as long to get into as when I hacked SHIELD. You guys were responsible to putting a stop to the Cybermen attack a few years back, that somehow I'm guessing SHIELD's help got pushed back into the shadow, despite some of, or maybe because of the involvement of certain political leaders. Then you disappear off the radar, until Ms. Tyler here pops up, out and about for 'classified' government work." 

Rose clasped her hands in front of her, and looked Tony dead in the eye. "Given the prevalence and global presence of the Cybermen, and the amount of Stark Industries factories worldwide, how is that you managed to escape their clutches, given that their presence here, and your disappearance predated your internment in Afghanistan?" 

Pepper leveled her own glare in Rose's direction, but she didn't care. She was tired of being under the microscope, and being questioned and tested. Given the amount of time she and the Doctor had been thrown in prison for one thing or another, they had never been interrogated this much. She almost couldn't blame them, if the circumstances were reversed, but they weren't and they had only been sent to help. 

Tony actually looked slightly sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. "We never did business with Lumic, if that's what you're asking. His tech wasn't as good as ours and he and Obie never saw eye to eye. Must've been that they could sense some competition in the Evil Genocide Overlord radar, so they didn't like each other. Anyways, Obie was still in charge at that point, and I was still competing with myself of how much of an asshole I could be. I tended to disappear, and during that first appearance of the Cybermen in Merry Ol' England, I was doing the tour of the red-light district in Tokyo. Sometimes being stupid is the smartest thing you can be." 

Rose exchanged a side glance with the Doctor. "I've come across my fair share of idiot geniuses. They tend to slip below the radar, and kick you in the arse when you won't see 'im comin'." The Doctor ducked his head a little, a rueful smile on his face, and Rose was sure his thinking matched hers at the moment. "What you're asking for is full disclosure, but seem to be offering little in return. You want us to trust you with information, but trust has to be earned. We're on the same side, and I'm done playing games. So if you're finished playing Inquisition, we can get down to business." 

Tony leaned back in his chair, flinging his arms wide. "What do you want to know? I'm an open book." 

Rose smirked. "You are, in fact. See, we looked into you, too. You and the Avengers. When I asked earlier about the whereabouts of Dr. Banner, it wasn't because of malicious intent or mild curiosity, it was because at the moment without the whole collective, he would be among the first to try to get started on a defense against what's coming." 

Tony leaned forward, gripping the table. "What do you mean, ‘what's coming?’ What do you know that we don't?" 

It was Rose's turn to lean back in her chair. It wasn't often she got to keep a genius on his toes, knowing something that he didn't. She was a little surprised that the Doctor hadn't interjected yet, or taken over, but from her periphery, she saw him sitting in a seeming relaxed position, but she knew that he was just as coiled tight as she was. 

"Know a bit 'bout aliens, don't we? There's never just one force invasion, and that's it. One wave to invade, next one to occupy. We only saw the first wave, the scouts, innit? Second wave hasn't arrived yet." 

"And why would that be, Ms. Tyler?" 

"You closed the portal, took their shortcut. Now they need to come the long way around." 

"I didn't see any degrees in astrophysics or engineering in your credentials." 

"Got common sense, me.” A cheeky tongue-in-teeth smile split her face. “Portals shrink the distance traveled that you need to go, unless you have faster than light travel capabilities. If you have FTL, you'd use it. More stability, more durable, less likely to get sabotaged or interfered with. And less likely to get you trapped on the wrong end of the universe." That was something she knew about, all too well. She hated feeling defensive, justifying herself to a genius. She could hear her accent getting thicker as her ire rose; if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was someone trying to make her look dumb just because she didn't look smart on paper. It wasn't like Mickey couldn't have forged her some degrees before, but it felt too dishonest and the education that the Doctor had given her was better than any school. And she was about two seconds from teaching this genius what a Tyler slap felt like. 

Lucky for Tony, Pepper stepped in, playing the voice of reason. "Tony, be nice to our guests. Or I'll tell JARVIS to replace your entire music collection with that pop star that you hate." 

"Pepper!" he whined. 

She just looked at him, daring him to call her bluff. He whimpered, breaking her gaze and then let his head hit the table with a thud. He mumbled something under his breath. 

Pepper prodded him. "What was that?" 

He threw himself back against the chair. "Fine. I'm sorry, Agent Tyler, that I was being a dickbag. But you guys are almost as squirrelly as Romanoff, and that's hard to pull off. And Fury sent you here saying you fought aliens, and I'm just trying to get a leg up without resurrecting any of those Chitauri bastards and getting my face eaten off, or kidnapping Foster to find Thor. Though, I would love to have her on our payroll, and I really want to meet her assistant, because a little birdie told me she tazed Thor, which I would have given my left...well never mind. Point is, I want to know everything there is to know about aliens, and SHIELD isn't telling me dick, and Torchwood's system would be a thing of beauty if it didn't piss me off so much because we got in for like five minutes, and then got kicked out, and the more we try to get in, the deeper the rabbit hole we find, until we think up is down, and my dad wasn't an asshole." Tony stood up and came over to Rose's side of the table, and got down on his knees, clasping his hands in front of his face. "So please, pretty please, Agent Tyler, pretty, pretty please, will you guys help us fight the big bad aliens? With bangers and mash, and blood pudding, and beans on toast, and whatever other crap you guys eat over there, on top?" He pouted, and attempted to flutter his eyes at her innocently, which she guess stopped being effective for him at age three. 

Rose sighed and physically withheld the eye-roll at the billionaire genius's antics. She had endured worse from Jack, and the Doctor no matter how much he might try to deny it. Though her brother Tony, could give this one lessons in pouting  and temper tantrums. She cast a look in the Doctor's direction, catching his eye in her periphery. It still amazed her how much he let her take the lead when it came to Torchwood missions and decisions, but even he was unable to deny that this new incarnation of him wasn't as durable as the previous, so more human caution was warranted in their actions. That being said, their propensity for running into danger had barely abated. It also helped that she had more experience leading the TW teams, and they were used to following her directives. That didn't mean that he didn't give input, and at this point they had a near telepathic ability to communicate non-verbally. She saw his acquiescence and his amusement at Stark's actions, and nodded his understanding at what she was about to do. 

She turned her eyes back towards Stark, still in his mock begging posture. He reminded her of Jack somewhat, making her miss the Time Agent even more than usual. "First off," she said, "call me Rose. Second, I want to explain this once, and only once, so whomever else is a part of this think tank needs to be assembled as soon as possible. There's a lot to explain, and to go through, with maximum privacy and little chance of spying, because what we disclose will make us and our family vulnerable, to the point that if this information leaked, we would be hunted, committed or imprisoned. Let's avoid that, shall we?" She gave Stark a hard stare, arms crossed as he rose off of his knees to stand in front of her. He was about the same height as the Doctor, and she was able to see his understanding of the seriousness of her tone. She wasn't willing to pull punches and if Stark's recklessness led to her, the Doctor, or her family being endangered, she would chase him to the ends of the universe to make her wrath known. 

He looked over to Pepper, who nodded in turn. He turned back to Rose. 

"One super secret squirrel meeting, coming up. JARVIS, privacy settings, if you please." 

"Privacy settings engaged, sir."


	4. Banner and Spanners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a little exposition. 
> 
> Behold, a wild Banner appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still down a laptop. 
> 
> Still posting from my phone. 
> 
> Still unbetaed. 
> 
> Please read and comment.
> 
> I'm sorry for any weird formatting.

###  **Ch 4 - Banners and Spanners**

Rose was vindicated in her suspicion of his whereabouts, as Dr. Banner was one of the first people to arrive at the gathering, along with Barton. Upon hearing of his story during the initial research after agreeing to consult, she had done her own digging outside of the dossiers given to her by Fury. Needless to say that what she found made her extremely unhappy. General Ross was officially on the Tyler Slap list, as the Doctor tended to call it, given his treatment and response to Banner's accident, and the manhunt he had led, causing the scientist to have to hermit himself out of sight and restrict his movement out of the tower or in regards to SHIELD. It was slightly amusing that Dr. Banner skirted where she and the Doctor were sitting. She wasn't sure, but her intuition told her that the entity within Banner could sense their differences from the people of this world, and as such was distancing himself in regards to any sort of contest of aggression. There was an aura of danger that permeated her and the Doctor, and in the middle of a situation that either got them into trouble or made them something to avoid. It only became more pronounced when either of their ires was raised. While the Doctor was no longer full Time Lord, the essence of the 'Oncoming Storm' remained intact. And she had been told on more than one occasion that there were times when her eyes flashed gold. That was something that they had left alone, by non-verbal agreement and dint of not discussing it.

At all. As if by ignoring it, any difference might go away.

Of those that were counted as part of the Avengers, only Stark, Banner, and Barton were there. Thor had returned with his brother to Asgard a while ago, and there was no telling if or when he would come back. Romanov and Rogers were on a classified mission. Pepper, while not an official part of the Avengers, was widely accepted as being able to reign in Stark and so her attendance was to try to cut down on the retelling, and the inevitable embellishment that Stark would no doubt add to satisfy his own dramatic flair.

Not that any would be needed.

Before meeting the Doctor, such a story would sound like something off the telly, and she would question the sanity of the person telling it, wishing that she had some mace to keep them at bay if necessary. There were a couple of SHIELD scientists in attendance, and what looked like a possible Stark Industries scientist as well. The think tank was small, given the sensitivity of the subject matter. Most of the practical applications of what was being discussed would apply to the Avengers only, especially given how compartmentalized the association between Torchwood and SHIELD that Fury had kept everything, which she thought would work out for the better. As a whole, she didn't really trust the organization, just as she was still a bit wary of the independent cells of Torchwood globally run. She held little illusions of how fast something could start with the best of intentions, could get corrupted without even knowing it.

They had remained in the common area, which, as far as she could tell, wasn't one that was used by Stark and his compatriots, given Banner's unfamiliarity with it. She had seen Barton scope out the room upon entry, and he was now situated in a loft spot on a ledge near the ceiling. He was close enough that he would be able to hear her, but far enough away that in an emergency, he could evac quickly if necessary. She didn't think there would be one, but given this particular group's propensity for trouble, and factor in her and the Doctor, she couldn't find it in her to take insult that Barton was so poised for exfil.  

The doors closed, and multiple chirps were emitted from cell phones.

"Communications have been disconnected, per the engagement of privacy settings. All signals inside and out of the room have been blocked, sir," JARVIS intoned.

"Thanks, buddy,” Tony said. “So, I'm sure everyone if wondering why I called you here today. Due to the Blue Man Group on PCP invasion a few months back, SHIELD thought it might be a good idea if a think tank was established outside of the organization. Agents Tyler and Noble are on loan from their own clandestine agency to help us. Now, given the boogie men that we're dealing with, they requested a VERY private debrief on their end. So, I'll turn it over to them now. The floor's yours, milady."

There was a simultaneous eye roll between Rose and Pepper before Rose shifted to what essentially was center stage in the room. The Doctor a silent support at her back and a calm hand that didn't quite rest on her waist. She took a quiet inhalation and began to speak, slightly nervous and made her feel like when she had first taken leadership of her team.

"Good afternoon. As part of an agreement with Director Fury, myself and Doctor Noble are serving as consultants with SHIELD due to our prior experience with aliens. Within Torchwood, our organization, we are the leading experts on extraterrestrial life forms, with the exception of very few. We agreed to the partnership because of the recent Chituari invasion of Earth. It is our belief that the aliens that were able to make it through the portal were a mere scouting force, with a greater threat that is more than likely headed to our planet due to the previous failure. As such, we could not in good conscience let such an event re-occur by any means. We will disclose any pertinent information should those questions arise. If you have any questions, please ask them now."

A reminiscent action started as different people raised their hands quietly waiting to be called. Rose called on the most exuberant.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Tony. Please. So how do you guys know so much about aliens?"

That was always his question, and one of her hardest to answer. "The answer to that is impossible to explain simply. However, I will try." Rose took a beat to gather her thoughts. The only way she could say it was to be blunt. "We're from an alternate reality." She waited for the explosion. She wasn't disappointed.

"I call bullshit."

"And we travelled in time. And across space."

"I really call bullshit."

"You attempted to hack our systems, correct Mr. Stark?"

"Tony. And yeah, and you guys didn't exist until a couple of years ago. Though, there was some chatter around the time when the Cybus thing first went down, along with what I suspect was the beginning of your organization. About a couple of people with your descriptions were in the mix and were the ones to take Cybus down. Along with some of the stray Cybermen that escaped, and boy am I suddenly glad that Obie decided he hated Europe all of a sudden."

"Outside of the Cybermen threat, there have been other incidents, kept quiet from the public. If it wasn't for us, you would have gotten your face eaten off by a Weevil."

"What the hell's a Weevil?"

"Something that looks like a cross between a human, a lizard, and a flatworm," the Doctor interjected.

"So if you could time travel before, why aren't you now?" Barton said off to the said, feet back on the floor.

"Ah, there's the rub. We don't have access to a time travel ship anymore. But we will. In time," the Doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. The disclosure made him uncomfortable, but it was necessary for what they needed to do here. "This would be so much easier if Thor was here," he muttered, but not softly enough for Barton to pick up on.

"You know Thor?" Barton asked, somewhat skeptically.

"Well, we might have met in passing a time or two. Not sure he would remember me, he did a lot of drinking when he was younger. And Asgardian mead gives hypervodka a run for its money," the Doctor replied.

"If you knew Thor when he was younger, how old are you? Or was that a time travel thing?"  

"Well, last I saw him was a few centuries ago. Mind you, I looked a bit different then. If we count from time of creation, to now, technically I'm physically a couple of years old, though mentally I have over a millennia of memories."

"How the hell does that work?" Tony asked. By this point, the small science team had gathered around Rose and the Doctor, reminiscent of a kindergarten story-time circle. Despite the limited space, both of them managed to fit in the chair.

"We're going to have to go back a bit," Rose said.  

The Doctor picked up for her. "The Asgardians are one of the oldest races in the Multiverse, probably right behind Time Lords and Daleks, though unlike the previous two, are not singular in the different parallel universes. The Kryptonians would be about the same age, if their planet hadn't been destroyed."

"Time War?" Rose asked.

"Partially. They accelerated harvesting the resources of their planet to build a fleet to take on the Daleks. They destabilized the planet core and most of the populace didn't want to recognize the danger they were in. From what I know, maybe a handful were able to escape before the planet exploded. That's not counting anyone imprisoned in the Phantom Zone."

"The Phantom Zone?" Pepper queried.

"Extra-dimensional prison. Holds the worst of the worst of the Universe, though no Daleks or Cybermen, otherwise everyone would be dead inside the prison. Only good thing about the universes being closed off from one another is that the Phantom Zone only exists in the same one with Krypton."

"Is it a part of the Time Lock?" Rose asked.

"No, it's fixed."

"What are Time Lords, Daleks, or Kryptonians?" Barton asked.

"Kryptonians are from the planet Krypton, in the Rao system. Because of the age of their sun after their genetic revolution, they couldn't encapsulate on the photosynthetic absorption properties that had been built into their genes."

"So what, they're super-duper plant people?" Tony snarked, crossing his arms.

"Well, yes and no. You lot get vitamins from your sun, but too much exposure is harmful because you lack the capabilities to absorb more of it and convert it to energy. You haven't manipulated your DNA to that point yet. Kryptonians have, and because your sun is younger, there are more nutrients to absorb, so a Kryptonian on Earth would probably be a match for Thor."

Rose took over. "Daleks are a race that lives to destroy anything that's not a Dalek. No mercy, no bargaining, no surrender. There is nothing good in a Dalek."

The Doctor looked at her. "You've come a long way from Nevada."

Rose shook her head. "That one doesn't count. It'd absorbed some of my DNA. It wasn't Dalek, it wasn't human. It didn't know what it was, and neither did I. It was suffering, and everything was still so new to me. Trust me, I learned my lesson the next time." Her eyes hardened at the memory. The Doctor placed a hand on her arm, thumb stroking it a couple of times, until she looked him in the eyes, and nodded. He let go, and turned back to the group.

"The Time Lords are, were, my people. There was a war," the Doctor paused as Rose squeezed his hand, "a war that spanned time, space and universes. Planets burned, races were wiped out of reality as if they never existed. The screams of those lost echoed across the stars. The devastation became too great and there was a plan, a final solution to reset reality with the Time Lords and the Daleks at the epicenter. To prevent that, the War was put into a time lock, sealing them away from all universes, which in turn sealed off all the alternate universes."

"It was you, wasn't it?" Barton asked.

The Doctor turned to face him. "Why do you say that?"

"You have the look. Someone who has been neck deep in death, surrounded by suffering. You looked at all the bloodshed, and said 'no more'. You knew no else could do it, so you made the hard choice and ended it. But you didn't expect to survive and when you did, you were at a loss, wishing you hadn't," Barton observed.

The Doctor said nothing, but his eyes spoke for him, silent agreement to everything Barton had said burned within them.

"So you're an alien? You look human," Tony said.

"You look Time Lord, they came first. And he's part alien. See, they have this trick, this way of cheating Death. It's called regeneration. Their whole body rewrites itself, to look different, sound different. They reform as a new body," Rose said.

"A new body, huh? Ever change into a woman?" Tony waggled his eyebrows.

"Not me per se. The Corsair, last I knew she had regenerated into a woman. Thank goodness that we never ran into her with Jack on board."

"It couldn't be that bad," Rose said.

"You remember New New Vegas in the 30th century?" the Doctor asked.

"Worse than that?"

"No, add Preslovia to New New Vegas. Worse than **that**."

"I still don't know how he got the sparklers out of there."

"I wasn't worried about the sparklers. I was worried about the eggs."

"They grew fast."  

"Yes, they did."

"Is that why you didn't let me outside when it was raining?"

"Yes, one pregnant companion was enough. And Jack got very tetchy by the end. He started imitate your mother. Such a bad idea to introduce those two."

"Couldn't be avoided. Trust me, I tried."

"Uh, guys. Back to Time-Lordia and the other stuff, please," Tony said, a twitch around his eyes at the concept of male pregnancy. For shits and giggles(aka a dare from Rhodey), he'd let himself be hooked up to one of those machines. He'd gotten to 15% and quit. Never again, no matter how much alcohol he'd had would he do that again.

"Gallifrey."

"What?" Tony responded.

"That was the name of my planet. Gallifrey. In the constellation of Kasterborous."

"Sounds Irish."

Rose snorted.

"Can we get back to the part-alien thing?" Barton asked.

"Yes. Well, I was hit by a Dalek, not dead-on, because then I wouldn't be here, but partially. So I partially regenerated to heal myself, and poured the rest of the regeneration energy into a matching genetic receptacle."

"Which was?"

"My hand."

Pepper elbowed Tony before he could say anything.  

Rose rolled her eyes. "He got his hand cut off fighting some alien Viking lizards."

"Sycorax."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I know what they're called. They need context to visualize them. Anyway, his hand got cut off in a sword fight and because he was within a certain amount of time from his previous regeneration, he was able to regrow it."

"What happened to the hand that got cut off?" Barton asked.

    "A friend of ours found it, apparently. Preserved it, using it as a beacon to when the Doctor came back to Earth in his time period. The hand ended up on the TARDIS, got filled with regeneration energy, then got genetically rewritten from contact with another companion. The hand re-grew a new body that matched the previous one. A meta-crisis. Part human, part Time Lord."

"Huh." Barton nodded.

"So what are the physiological differences between humans and Time Lords?" Banner had managed to sneak to the side of the group, unobtrusive despite his size. Rose was impressed.

"Di-cardiac nervous system, respiratory bypass, additional senses pertaining to dimensional currents, telepathy, and I know every language on this planet, and the neighboring ones, for the most part."

"Are you actually a doctor? Did you study medicine?" Banner interjected.

    "Yep." He popped the 'p'. "In Edinburgh, under Dr. Bell."

Banner blinked, looking non-plussed. "Dr. Bell."

"Yes."

"Dr. Joseph Bell."

"Yes."

"Dr. Joseph Bell, in the late 19th Century?"

"Yes."

Banner brought a hand to his face, rubbing it to rid himself of his exasperation. He pulled his hand back, looked at the Doctor and put his hand back over his face, shaking his head.

"What's up with the face, Brucie?" Tony asked.

Banner's voice came out slightly muffled. "He's saying that he learned medicine from the same man that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle modeled Sherlock Holmes after. Over a hundred years ago. That's impossible."

"You turn into a giant green rage monster, we had a guy chase his evil, crazy brother over the rainbow bridge and back, big blue aliens tore up New York, and Rogers lived through the Great Depression, got turned into a Capsicle and lived due to super juice my dad helped make. Your arbitrary skepticism disturbs me."

Banner scratched the back of his neck. "It's just... there's gotta be a line somewhere where the weird ends, right?"

"Not in my experience," Rose said.

A soft tone sounded from the ceiling. "I apologize for the interruption, Sir. However, surveillance of world-wide news feeds turned up an extraterrestrial event in Great Britain. Traffic cameras, with the use of facial recognition, confirm that Thor and Dr. Foster are present as well."

"Pull it up, J," Tony said.

"As you wish, Sir."

A BBC1 News broadcast was projected on one of the walls, the sound slowly increasing from muted silence to audible tolerance. Rose noted the graduation of volume, adding it to her assessment of Stark. He hid it well; the watchfulness, reactions to sharp noises. She turned to pay attention to the broadcast. A large ship that looked like a honed weapon embedded itself into the ground in Greenwich. A podlike elevator descended to the ground to expel a figure that exuded malevolence, whose pale white skin looked like it was being corrupted from within by rotting blackness and bloody mercury in his eyes. She felt the Doctor stiffen beside her. "Who or what is it?'

"Malekith," he spat.

Rose rarely heard that level of loathing in his voice, unless he spoke of the genocide of worlds in general, or the Daleks specifically. The others were surprised by his dark tone, having no prior experience with the Oncoming Storm. "So who's he at home?" she joked.

Only a corner of his lips quirked upward, but she would take the improvement. "Leader of the Dark Elves. He and his ilk have not been seen since the last Convergence, the alignment of the all the realms of Yggdrasil. The last one was...oh, about five thousand years ago. He was determined to plunge the universe back into the darkness it was before the Big Bang."

Rose pursed her lips. "How dangerous is he?"

"When you came across the different universes, had I not been staring Davros in the face in the middle of the Dalek fleet, Malekith would have been my main suspect for the darkness and the stars disappearing. Especially," the Doctor pulled out his glasses for a closer look at the news feed, "as he's managed to get his hands on the Aether."

"What's the Aether?" Tony asked, moving to stand by the Doctor.

The Doctor sniffed. "One of the remnants of the major primordial forces of the Big Bang. The Aether is a viscous symbiote that gives its host the power to warp reality. Bor managed to steal it away the last time Malekith went after it and hide it away from where anyone could find it. The Convergence probably left a gap open to get through to wherever he squirreled it away."

Rose's eyes widened. She went on the opposite side of the Doctor. "Could we-? Could they-?"

The Doctor shook his head as he scratched his neck. "Even if the TARDIS were fully matured, and capable of travel, there's no guarantee that we'd end up back where we were. The chances are too slim."

Rose bit her lip, and closed her eyes, fists clenched.

The Doctor uncurled one of her fists, clasping her hand in his own. "Stuck with me, it's not so bad. Yeah?"

Rose breathed a laugh, opening her eyes to meet his. "Yes." She looked back at the broadcast. "We couldn't make it in time, could we?"

"Not even with Barton's flying. And my suits go fast, but not that fast," Tony said.

"We should head over there anyway.  We might not get there in time to help, but we might be able to speak with Thor to find out how Malekith got his hand on the Aether," the Doctor said.

"Give me some time to prep the jet, and I'll bring you over," Barton said.

The Doctor nodded. "We'll be ready.


End file.
